Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Reviews by trygger87:

Second of the Iconoclast iv tried to date. Picked up in a 750ml brown double waxed seal(its red). When poured this beer is gorgeous in appearance, its a beautiful mahogany color with a thin film of white head. I could stare at this beer all day its so lovely to look at. The smell is just as awesome, honestly I wasnt expecting it to smell this good. Granny smith apples and caramel, with a bit of malt in the back and finished with a slight soy smell. Taste is out of this world! This is supposed to be an IPA but i dont see it. Thats not at all a bad thing because this beer is freaking awesome! Extremely mellowed out by the aging, i get almost no bitterness at all though there is a subdued hop taste. First thing i taste is an Awesome fruity red wine quality. Followed by a subdued IPA flavor. Every thing is there except the bitterness of the hops which are so prevalent in all IPA. This is what makes this beer so successful in my opinion, its balance is unparalleled in the beer realm. Its seriously a symphony of very good red wine and the beast damn IPA iv ever had. Mouth fell is like a really smooth red wine. It coats the mouth but is not in any way over powering or offensive. In fact i rather like the way it leaves a good quality red wine taste behind. Do not even talk to me about drink ability. Its 40+ a bottle, how drinkable do you think it is? P.S. Its extremely easy drinking! Unthinkable for a beer thats 9 percent.There is no alcohol taste what so ever at all. Overall a very good beer that i would buy on the regular. (1,550 characters)

More User Reviews:

4.05/5rDev n/alook: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at the Rose & Crown for Mayfield Brewing Night. $7 for about 12oz of this beer was a steal compared to the $43 they charge for a bottle *COUGH* ripoff *COUGH*. Ok, I don't want to be too much of an a-hole here. Several of the local beer guys have met the brewer, John, and from what I hear he's a good guy, and he seems like a solid brewer from what I've had.

This beer pours clear reddish-amber with a small off-white head that leaves some decent lacing.

Interesting aroma - sweet malt, muted floral hops, oak, and red wine. Not particularly hoppy-smelling for what is supposed to be an IPA, but you can't fault it for that since hops don't typically hold up too well to aging, and this is -bal aged.

Flavor is very woody and vinous, and only mildly hoppy. Hops are mainly floral and earthy. Really interesting. This beer is sort of three-headed, like a hydra - or 1/3 of a hydra I guess (9 heads, right?). On one hand (or head), you've got your IPA - caramel malt and hops. On another, you've got your -bal aging and oakiness, maybe even some vanilla. On the third, you've got high quality red wine, adding some tannins to the brew. Some pear and starfruit notes in there too. I can't say this is a total match made in heaven, but the beer is far from unbalanced.

Medium-bodied with a fairly dry and crisp mouthfeel that really works well. Fairly low carbonation and some mild hop resins.

Overall, a good and unique beer. Now I went into how ridiculous the pricing is in my Iconoclast Nocturna review, so I'll spare the reader that here. Suffice to say that I would buy a bottle of this beer if the price were anywhere up to about $15, but it's...wait for it...$43. So I'll pass. (1,693 characters)

(Please see my review on the Iconoclast Aurora for some back ground on the Brewery, too many characters)

The Iconoclast Éclat is an "American Oak Wine Barrel-Aged IPA" that was aged in Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. This is NOT sour nor does it have any sort of "wild" funk, but more on that later. The Éclat pours a burnt orange colored body with a cap of rocky parchment colored head that ends up lacing the glass in a spotty configuration. This looks classy and it is.

The nose is full of the sort of rustic hop aromas Amarillo hops usually give off, sort of coppery and vegetal. When asked about what kind of hops John used in this he played coy saying he couldn't tell me but he would welcome me at the brewery next time he brewed. There was also noted of dried grapefruit and fresh alfalfa with a mild backing from some caramel malt.

The malt takes the first step forward on the palate quickly subduing the later aggressive hops. The oak adds another layer of bitterness here adding to the "green" side of this serious IPA, what it doesn't add is any sort of lactic nature or tart acidity. This is as far away from a "wild" IPA as you can get. The hops, whatever they are, are sneaky. This is an overt hop bomb, much to the contrary, this is something that builds bitterness with every sip and is with you long after it is gone. I seriously could still take the hops even after I ate an unglazed old-fashioned doughnut. This beer will haunt you.

The feel here is again superb, easily as special as its sister beer the Aurora, with the flawless integration of hops, malt and oak. The carbonation is again kept to a minimum, by John's admission by design. He told me that he doesn't want the carbonation getting in the way of these beers. I believe that he succeeded.

The only elephant in the room about this beer, and all the beers in the series are the prices. At approximately $40 retail they are a bit to dish out for. I guess if you really wanted to get something for the beer drinker that had everything this would be it, birthday present to self possibly? Other that that this is a wildly delicious bottle that would easily go down my gullet. (2,181 characters)

A: Pours a clear amber-maroon body with nice off-white head. It leaves a little lacing down the sides of my tulip.

S: Toast, floral hops, a touch of oak, grapes. This is like muted brown ale of some sort. I question the wisdom of aging an IPA; it definitely doesn't benefit aroma-wise. Nothing particularly hoppy or standout here, and it's not very pungent in general.

T: Dominated by the barrels; there's a thin red-wine flavor accentuated by floral hops and toast. What surprises me is that the beer is relatively balanced, with nuances of pear, wood, apple. I don't know if it's amazing for an IPA, but it's not a trainwreck like BrewDog Storm.

D: People hate me for incorporating price into my reviews. But this beer is $43 pre-tax; with CA tax + redemption value it comes out to $47. That. Is. Ridiculous. This isn't nearly worth the cost, sorry. End of discussion. This isn't what I look for in an IPA, and something heftier (like a barleywine) would have been a MUCH smarter choice. (1,143 characters)